Catfish Cove reopens with a cause

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A popular Quad City restaurant is reopening for the first time since a rising Mississippi River forced the owners to shut their doors. They're doing it so others can do some good in the Quad Cities.

Inside the Dee's Catfish Cove you can find a good time. That's because it's the first time since May 2014 that anyone has set foot inside, let alone had a smile on their face.

"For a person to take a negative and turn it into something positive, you have to be strong," said friend, Charlie Shelf.

That person Shelf is talking about is Dee Morman. She owns the Catfish Cove, that's located right on the Mississippi River in davenport.

"This has been the worst flood since I've been here. This is the sixth flood in the last two years," said Morman.

The water surrounded the building.

"She wasn't able to get her cookers, her steamers, no kind of kitchen equipment, nothing out of here," said Shelf.

The flood left Morman to lose three months of business, but that wasn't the biggest struggle she faced. The same month of the flood, she lost her husband Bob to Lupus.

"Nobody knows a lot about lupus around here, but yet there are so many people affected," said Morman.

However, with the help of family and friends three months later with still some repairs to finish, Morman reopened the Catfish Cove, but with a cause.

"Bob wasn't able to make it and hopefully everyone else can," said Morman.

Morman held a fundraiser; all the money made will go towards the Lupus Foundation. She plans on making the fundraiser a yearly tradition. As for the business, it should be completely repaired in a few weeks.